Inbound Marketing Definition

Many people think of inbound marketing as a tactic, but its not. It’s best to think of inbound marketing as a process or a way of moving leads down your sales funnel. The inbound marketing process uses various types of content to attract highly targeted visitors to a website, then uses premium content to convert visitors to leads, and uses lead nurturing to convert leads to paying customers.

Understanding The Inbound Marketing Funnel

Each section contains the four inbound marketing objectives or actions (Attract, Convert, Close, Delight) inbound companies must take in order to obtain visitors, leads, and customers. Listed along the side are the tools companies use to accomplish these actions. (Note the tools are listed next to the action where they first come into play, but that’s not the only place they’re applicable! Several tools, like email, can be essential in several stages of the methodology.) Analyze everything each step of the way against established goals.

Why Your Company Needs Inbound Marketing

Simply put inbound marketing is more efficient and cost effective way to do business online.

Inbound Marketing vs Outbound Marketing

Instead of the old outbound marketing methods of buying ads, buying email lists, and praying for leads, inbound marketing focuses on creating quality content that pulls people toward your company and product, where they naturally want to be. By aligning the content you publish with your customer’s interests, you naturally attract inbound traffic that you can then convert, close, and delight over time.

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